THE

INDOLENCE OF
FILIPINOS
LESSON 10
INDOLENT

IDLE LAZY

LACK OF LITTLE LOVE

ACTIVITY FOR WORK
objectives:
● Understand the underlying discourse on the supposed cause of
underdevelopment of the Philippines as a colony of Spain.
● Analyze the claim of Indolence from the perspective of Rizal and others
who tackled similar discussions in later works.
● determine the causes of why the filipinos were claimed as indolent
Sobre la indolencia de los
filipinos
01 02 03 04

a socio-political essay Rizal admits the

Published in La
published in existence of Concludes that
Soliradid Madrid. La solidaridad in
Spain (july indolence among the Indolence has more
Madrid in 1890. It was
15,1890 - written by José Rizal as Filipinos, but it deeply rooted causes
September a response to the could be attributed to such as abuse and
15,1890) accusation of Indio or a number of reasons discrimination.
Malay indolence.
Contentious Claim
“Filipinos are Indolent”

- Claimed as the
alleged cause why
Filipinos never develop.

- Indirectly referring to
the idea of Filipino
cultural inferiority
Why does this contentious claim
matter?
● It creates a sense of disparity
between Filipinos and Others

● Reinforces the status quo of

Colonization

● Spaniards use thisclaim to

justify their rule.
Causes of the
indolence of the
Filipinos
1. War
● The inhabitants of the Philippines were dragged
to maintain the honor of Spain.

● Great diminution of the natives because the

governors got them as crews for the vessels
they send out.
2. Attitude of the friars

● The friars perpetuated the idea that it is easier for

a poor man to enter heaven than for a rich man.

● The friars advised the poor parishioners or

believers of the church to stop working.
3. Fiestas

● Filipinos were much less lazy before the word

miracle was introduced into their language.
4. Miserly return for one’s labor

● (Selfish, greedy, mean)

● Compelled filipinos to work for their benefit.

● Reduced many to slavery.

5. Curtailment of individual
liberty
● Individual liberty is being cut off
● Accused of being a rebel or a suspect of such
● Uncertainty of reaping the fruits of their labor
6. Gambling

● The sugal ( a spanish word, to gamble) indicates

that gambling was unknown in the Philippines
before the spaniards.
7. Lack of support

● Absence of moral support

● Absence of help from the spanish government

8. Deprivation of human dignity

● Priest who boldly declared that it is evil for the

Filipinos to know Castilian, that the Filipinos
should remain as a farmer for the rest of their
lives, and that he should not have further
ambition.
9. Feeling of inferiority

● Deadens the energy

● Paralyzes all tendecy towards advancement

10. Vicious hampering of the intelligence
and will
● “You can’t do more than you’re told!”
“Dont aspire to be greater than the curate!”
“You belong to an inferior race!
They say this to every Filipino; and as it is repeated
so often, it has engraved in their mind and hence it
seals and shapes all his actions.
11. Ownership of the big estates by the
friars
● The friars deceived many by making them
believe that those estates were prospering
because those were under their supervision.
12. Apathy of the Government

● No encouragement, aid pertaining to commerce

and agriculture
● Due to the fraudulent manipulations of the
chinese, the Filipino industries were dying.
13. Lack of an ideal for a good worker
● The filipinos’ spirits were transformed according
to the taste of the nation that is imposed upon
them, its God and its laws.

● Instead of a tanned and muscular laborer, whats

imposed was an aristocratic lord with stamped
papers, crucifixes, bills and prayer books.
Sobre la
indolencia de los
filipinos
THE INDOLENCE OF
FILIPINOS I
Rizal acknowledges the prior work of Gregorio Sancianco and admits that indolence
does exist among the Filipinos, but it cannot be attributed to the troubles and
backwardness of the country; rather it is the effect of the backwardness and troubles
experienced by the country. He therefore enumerates the causes of indolence and
elaborates on the circumstances that have led to it. The hot climate, he points out, is
a reasonable predisposition for indolence. Filipinos cannot be compared to
Europeans, who live in cold countries and who must exert much more effort at
work. An hour's work under the Philippine sun, he says, is equivalent to a day's
work in temperate regions.
THE INDOLENCE OF
FILIPINOS II
Rizal says that an illness will worsen if the wrong treatment is given. The
same applies to indolence. People, however, should not lose hope in
fighting indolence. Even before the Spaniards arrived, Rizal argues, the
early Filipinos were already carrying out trade within provinces and with
other neighboring countries; they were also engaged in agriculture and
mining; some natives even spoke Spanish. All this disproves the notion that
Filipinos are by nature indolent. Rizal ends by asking what then would
have caused Filipinos to forget their past.
THE INDOLENCE OF
FILIPINOS III
Rizal enumerates several reasons that may have caused the Filipinos' cultural
and economic decadence. The frequent wars, insurrections, and invasions have
brought disorder to the communities. Chaos has been widespread, and
destruction rampant. Many Filipinos have also been sent abroad to fight wars
for Spain or for expeditions. Thus, the population has decreased in number. Due
to forced labor, many men have been sent to shipyards to construct vessels.
Meanwhile, natives who have had enough of abuse have gone to the mountains.
As a result, the farms have been neglected. The so-called indolence of Filipinos
definitely has deeply rooted causes.
THE INDOLENCE OF
FILIPINOS IV
According to Rizal, Filipinos are not responsible for their misfortunes, as they are not
their own masters. The Spanish government has not encouraged labor and trade, which
ceased after the government treated the country's neighboring trade partners with great
suspicion. Trade has declined, furthermore, because of pirate attacks and the many
restrictions imposed by the government, which gives no aid for crops and farmers. This
and the abuse suffered under encomienderos have caused many to abandon the fields.
Businesses are monopolized by many government officials, red tape and bribery operate
on a wide scale, rampant gambling is tolerated by the government. This situation is
compounded by the Church's wrong doctrine which holds that the rich will not go to
heaven, thus engendering a wrong attitude toward work. There has also been
discrimination in education against natives. These are some of the main reasons that Rizal
cites as causing the deterioration of values among the Filipinos
THE INDOLENCE OF
FILIPINOS V
According to Rizal, all the causes of indolence can be reduced to two factors. The
first factor is the limited training and education Filipino natives receive. Segregated
from Spaniards, Filipinos do not receive the same opportunities that are available to
the foreigners. They are taught to be inferior. The second factor is the lack of a
national sentiment of unity among them. Because Filipinos think they are inferior,
they submit to the foreign culture and do everything to imitate it. The solution,
according to Rizal, would be education and liberty.
Similar Discussions

● The Myth of the Lazy Native by Syed

Hussein Alatas (1977)

● Orientalism’ by Edward Said (1979)

“The evil is not that indolence
exists more or less latently but that
it is fostered and magnified.”

— Jose Rizal